Sixty Two Days
by kuuipo.xo
Summary: It's been sixty two days since the New Years party, and it's Gabriella's birthday. Now it's Troy's chance to show Gabriella just how much she means to him with his elaborate birthday surprise.


**_Hey. My first story, ever! It's dedicated to Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, as it's written for their 4th anniversaty, which is today. So congratulations to the both of them. They've given me so many happy memories, and I just wanted to take something out of my time to show them, and you guys that I am grateful. I hope there are many, many more years of Zanessa too come, so good luck to them both._**

**_This is also dedicated to all my friends on who are all absolutely amazing. I hope you all enjoy it. Please let me know what you think. I'm keen to know, you see, since this is my very first story._**

**_I own absolutely nothing, just the plot of this very simple little story. So happy anniversary, Zanessa, and happy reading, to you guys!_**

* * *

Sixty Two Days

5.00 am. Tuesday, March 3rd. It had been exactly 62 days since New Years. Exactly 62 days since Troy Bolton had been dragged up onto the stage to sing at the Teenager's New Years party. 62 days since Troy Bolton's life had changed forever. It had been exactly 62 days since Troy Bolton fell head over heels in love. Troy Bolton was whipped. He knew it. His buddies knew it. Practically everyone in East High knew it. Everyone apart from her that is. The girl that had East High's primo boy totally, utterly and irrevocably infatuated with her was completely clueless. Today was her birthday. And today was Troy Bolton's chance to show her just how much she meant to him. And if he was being honest, he was absolutely petrified.

It was 5am and Troy had spent the past 3 hours tossing and turning in his bed, scared stiff that he had forgotten something. He had planned today down to the very last second, but he couldn't help but panic that he had missed something. It was just a constant niggle that had kept him awake for most of the night. But that was a small price to pay. He wanted today to be perfect. He was going to make today the best birthday Gabriella had ever had. He was sure of that.

As soon as the shrill scream of his alarm echoed round Troy's Albuquerque bedroom, he sprung into action, throwing his quilt off his body, swinging his legs over the edge of his bed, standing straight up, eventually making his way to his en suite bathroom and hopping into the shower. Just as he had planned. As the piping hot water streamed out of the shower head and bounced off East High's basketball captain's golden skin, he ran through the agenda for today once more in his mind. Troy chuckled to himself as he realized he was pretty sure he had never got out of bed so quickly. Wait a minute. Why did he get up so quickly? And the second he remembered the reason he was going to all of this trouble, his lips curled into spectacular smile, that only Gabriella Montez had the privilege of evoking upon him.

And with that, Troy jumped out of the shower, just as quickly as he had hopped in and wrapped a fluffy Egyptian towel around his godly torso, flicked his dripping hair to the side and strolled out of the bathroom, feeling ready for the epic day ahead of him.

An hour later Troy was already in school. He had managed to get a lift with his dad, much to his father's curiosity as to his son's sudden eagerness to get to school. After arriving at the parking lot, Troy thanked his father for the ride, swung open the car door, jumped out onto the tarmac surface beneath them, slammed the door shut, shot his dazzling smile at his father and Coach Bolton watched his son scarper into the building in front of them.

It was 6.13 am and Troy was working his magic in Darbus' home room, putting the finishing touches into the grand design he had created for his love. He stopped what he was doing, and reached into his jeans pocket. He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, and unfolded it, reading the boyish scrawl that he had written previously. Following the instructions on the paper, he fumbled around his pocket for his phone, took a deep breath and dialled the number that he had become so familiar with over the past 62 days.

The phone rang five times times, and then Troy felt his heart whip its self into a frenzy as the person on the other end answered his call and raised her angelic voice, which was like music to his ears.

'_Hey Troy!'_ He couldn't stop the goofy smile from erupting across his chiselled features. Not that he wanted to. He loved that Gabriella could do this to him, just by saying his name. He was sure that nobody had ever make him feel like this before, and he sure hoped nobody else ever would. _'Umm, Troy? Are you there'_

Troy was awoken from his daydream and coughed uncomfortably, partly through embarrassment for staying silent, partly to apologize, but mostly just to let Gabriella know that he was still there. He hastily replied with an over excited response. 'Ella! Happy Birthday!'

'_Thanks T. You sound… awake? Are you okay?'_

'Shhh. Yeah, I'm fine. But today's not about me. Today is all about you. And I've got a little surprise for you.'

'_Troy. What did I say? You didn't have to do anything for me!'_ she chirped.

'Well it's a little late for that now, Ella.' Troy laughed 'So since I've gone to all this trouble… what's the earliest time can you get to school?'

'_Umm, I don't know. I'll just go and check with my mom. I'll call you back.' _And with that. The line went dead. To say Troy was nervous, was an understatement. He pressed the scarlet 'end call' button on his cell, and paced the classroom, awaiting the response of the beautiful brunette that he prayed he would soon be able to call his own.

Seconds later, Troy's phone started buzzing, and within moments he had answered the call. 'Hey!'

'_Hey T! My mom said she will be leaving for work any second, so she can drop me off now, if that's okay? I mean. I don't wanna be too early for you anything.'_

'No, no. Now is fine. Now is awesome.' Troy tried his best to reassure Gabriella. 'So I'll see you in 5?'

'_Sure, see you in 5, Wildcat.'_ She smiled

'Can't wait. See you then.' He ended the call and scanned the room, checking one last time for any imperfections. Once satisfied, he then paced out of the room, into the corridor and leaned against the red and white locker, waiting for his sweetheart to come and throw his world into motion.

For Troy, the next 5 minutes seemed to drag on forever. He could hear the clock from the classroom making a monotonous melody of clicks and ticks, each one of them bringing Gabriella Montez one step closer to him. The symphony of ticking and tocking caused a cacophony to echo inside of Troy's brain, so much so that he totally missed the scurry of tiny footsteps, getting closer and closer to him.

The thing that awoke him from his daze was the two tiny arms that flung themselves around his toned torso. He felt his heart pick up a pace, as the person embracing him giggled their sugary sweet laugh into his all too willing ear. Troy turned around in her embrace, to face her, and felt his heart flutter as his azure eyes met her chocolate orbs in a world shattering gaze.

Gabriella stopped laughing instantly, completely taken aback by the sheer intensity of the connection she was experiencing. Both teenagers felt their breath get sucked from their lungs, and evaporate into the atmosphere around them. Their breathing shallowed, and then Troy remembered exactly why he had brought Gabriella into school so early. 'Hey you.' He whispered. Gabriella swallowed hard as their eyes continued to absorb every pore of each other's perfect beings. 'Happy Birthday, Ella.'

Gabriella could feel Troy's warm, musky breath tickle her angelic features. The school fell silent, and all that could be heard was the erratic beating of both Troy and Gabriella's hearts, and the irregular breaths that were being stolen from the clammy corridor. 'Thanks, Wildcat.' A small smile condensed onto Gabriella's plump lips.

Once again, silence fell upon the pair of love struck teenagers, as Troy gently traced his finger tips along the length of Gabriella's bare arms, immediately sending tingles shooting here, there and everywhere. She shivered at his heavenly touch. On reaching her wrists. Troy's masculine hands took Gabriella's soft warm ones in his, and locked her long delicate fingers with his own. 'You ready to see your surprise?' he questioned.

'I can't wait.' Was the response. So Troy led Gabriella into the classroom that hid one of her many presents.

'You gotta close your eyes, Ella. I'll tell you when to open them.' Were the instructions that Gabriella immediately followed. Once Troy had placed Gabriella in the doorway of the room, he dropped her hands, and took his place behind Gabriella, gently placing his hands on her womanly hips, just beneath her teal vest. He shivered at the magical touch of her soft, flesh. He skimmed his hands over her velvety skin, to meet with each other at the front of her tingling torso. Gabriella brought her hands to rest on top of Troy's. It would be fair to say that Gabriella was finding breathing a mammoth task, as she revelled in the pleasure that Troy's touch brought her.

Troy brought his head to rest on Gabriella's shoulder, as he gently pulled her closer to him, so his body moulded perfectly to the curve of her back and butt. Troy kept his voice to just below a whisper as he spoke into Gabriella's ear. 'You can open your eyes' she was sure she could feel Troy's hot breath scold her neck as he did so. Just as requested, Gabriella's heavy lids fluttered open, as she began to take in the scene that Troy had created before her.

As she did so, she felt a warm trickle of water descend from her chocolate orbs. It was beautiful. Troy had pushed some of the tables in the room together, and laid a red and white table cloth over them. There was a vase in the middle of the table, full of fresh flowers that Gabriella recognized from the science club rooftop. Troy had made breakfast for the two of them. There was waffles, pancakes, fresh orange, syrup and everything Gabriella could have ever wanted, and more. Troy had sprinkled red petals and gold sequins all around the place, and they twinkled in the morning sun, that illuminated the room as it crept through the window's of East High.

'You like it?' Troy questioned nervously, while drawing lazy circles on the silky soft skin of her stomach beneath her tiny hands.

'It's beautiful Troy. It really is Thank you so much.' Gabriella did her best to sound sincere, but the silent sobs of gratitude that escaped her, made it difficult to sound as though she was being truthful.

Troy chuckled lightly to himself, as he sighed down Gabriella's ear, making her have to concentrate on her breathing, once again. 'Shushh, you. This is nothing. Seriously.' And as if to emphasise his point, he spun Gabriella around in his embrace to connect their eyes for a second time that day, in an Earth shattering gaze. 'Now are we gonna eat this food or not? You see, I don't want it to go to waste. I will have you know that I went to a lot of trouble preparing this feast for your birthday, Miss Montez. So. What do you say?'

Gabriella was sure she felt herself melt in Troy's arms, there and then. If it wasn't for the fact that Troy just planted a kiss on the delicate skin on the back of her hand, which sent a delightful burning sensation coursing though her veins, she would be sure she had died and gone to heaven. 'I'd love to, T. I just can't believe you've gone to all this trouble for me.'

As Troy heard this, he did his best to reassure Gabriella, and led her by the hand to the breakfast table, to start the wondrous plan that was Gabriella's birthday adventure.

They had a wonderful time feasting on Gabriella's birthday breakfast. And were sure to finish and clean up in time for home room that morning, as piles of oblivious students started loading into the classroom, moaning and groaning about the tedious activities that were inevitable in the day ahead of them. That was everyone apart from Troy and Gabriella. Since breakfast had been such a success, Troy couldn't wait to continue where he left off with Gabriella's birthday adventure as soon as the final school bell sounded at East High.

And soon enough, the shrill shriek of the final bell echoed around the tiled walls of the Albuquerque school and the same students that piled into the school, earlier that morning, evacuated the same premises, with a new found enthusiasm, only confirming it was the end of the day. Gabriella Montez made her way to her locker, with a smug smile illuminating her face, anticipating what the evening could hold. As she opened her locker, a small folded piece of white paper glided down to the ground and softly nestled it's self between her two feet. She bent down and extended her hand to pick up the paper. After unfolding it, she smiled once again as she read the writing that was written in her love's boyish scrawl. '_see you at 7 at our secret spot_. ' With that, she collected her books, stuffed them into her book bag, and waltzed out of the corridors of East High, all the way to her Albuquerque home, to prepare for her birthday date with Troy.

At the very same time, Troy made his way to his locker, collected the stuff he would need, took a deep breath, and started making preparations for tonight. He wanted it to be perfect. Absolutely perfect.

* * *

It was 6.28pm on the very same day. Gabriella Montez's birthday. And as Troy was putting the finishing touches to the paradise he had carefully constructed for Gabriella, Gabriella was putting the finishing touches to her outfit, which she really hoped Troy would notice.

As she stole a glance over to her clock, she knew that she had better be leaving soon, if she wanted to make it to their secret place on time. So she took one last look in the mirror, just to check she was looking okay. She stood and admired her reflection. Gabriella really loved the dress she was wearing. Her mom had bought it for her last summer, when she was on vacation in Mexico, visiting family. It wasn't anything dressy. It was just a simple off-white colour, with red flowers, that were dotted around the pattern and the red flowers were embroidered with tiny gold stitching. Gabriella liked the way the dress was not too long, but wasn't too short, either. It fell to about knee height, with the hem of the dress, gently kissing the base of her thighs. Tiny spaghetti straps which crossed at the back, hung from her shoulders, holding the dress to her curves. She wore a bolero style cream cardigan, to keep her warm in the chilly March weather. Gabriella's midnight curls cascaded down past her shoulders, and tickled her elbows as she moved. She was wearing slightly more make up than usual, but this only accentuated her Hispanic features. The bronze shimmer that she had applied to her eyes, gave her chocolate orbs an extra twinkle, that she prayed Troy would notice, and the peachy blush that she had applied drew out Gabriella's eyes and cheekbones to a traffic stopping extent. To say Gabriella Montez looked beautiful was an understatement. She sighed, slightly through nerves, but mostly through excitement at the prospect of what might happen over the course of the next few hours. She took her purse in her hand, and made her way out of her room, flicking off her light as she left.

Gabriella said a quick goodbye to her mom, who was watching something about cooking on the TV, and walked towards her's and Troy's secret hideout. When she left her house, Gabriella was pretty sure she was just excited about tonight, but with every step she took, the emotions within her churned and churned into an indistinguishable broth of nerves, excitement, and who knows what else?! It took her about fifteen minutes to arrive there, so she was just on time for Troy.

As she reached the bottom of the staircase, she could already hear soft music playing, although she couldn't tell what the song was. She was sure to shout up the stairs to Troy, who she was shure would be waiting at the top, just to check it was okay for her to come up. 'Troy?! Are you there?'

A husky voice replied from the top of the staircase 'Hey! Yeah I'm here.'

'It's Gabriella! Can I come up?' She giggled.

'Oh phew! And here I was thinking it was Darbus!' Gabriella couldn't help but chirp her sweet chuckle at Troy's joke. 'Sure. Come up. Careful on the steps though, it's getting dark.'

With Troy's permission, Gabriella carefully ascended the wooden staircase, and as she did, her breath was taken away. With every step she took, she caught more and more of a glimpse of the wonderland that Troy had been spending his evening creating. For her. She couldn't believe it. It was magical.

Once at the top of the staircase, Gabriella took a moment to take in her surroundings. There she was, looking out from the rooftop of East High, looking at all of the lights of the city of Albuquerque beneath her, and Troy had managed to make it even more beautiful. He had hung fairy lights from some beams that stood out from the roof. The lights twinkled against the milky sky that was setting by the second. And that's when Gabriella realized the song that was playing. It was her and Troy's songs they had sang together. He had recorded them. He was playing them now. He'd even put vases of flowers everywhere, so that the sweet scent of rose blossom lingered in her nostrils. When she looked around, she could see that Troy had lit hundreds of little candles, and dotted them everywhere around the rooftop. Gabriella really thought she was in heaven. That was until she heard a cough from behind her, and the span around to face the direction she heard it coming from. And there he was. Troy Bolton. The moment she sat eyes on him, that's when she knew she was in heaven.

As Gabriella turned around on the rooftop to face him, her midnight curls spun around with her, and bounced around onto her left shoulder. Troy couldn't believe that a person could ever look as stunning as Gabriella did at that moment. Troy had to remind himself how to swallow as he absorbed Gabriella's breathtaking appearance. She was perfect. There wasn't any other word that could describe her. If Troy was being honest, he wasn't even sure if 'perfect' did Gabriella justice. The way her soft black curls cascaded down her back, and her delicate features seemed to glow in the milky twilight. She really was incredible.

By the time Troy had finished ogling over her, Gabriella had slowly started pacing towards him, gently swaying her hips as she did so, tantalizing Troy as she moved. Their heated stare never broke, as each of the pair was fixated on the other, stood before them. As the distance between the two lessened, the air around them also seemed to disappear. Gabriella drew in a quick breath as she stood just inches away from Troy, and gazed into his tranquil azure orbs, and immediately wished she hadn't, because at that moment, she was pretty sure she had lost any inability she once had to speak English.

The first one of the two to break the stunned silence was Troy. 'You look absolutely beautiful, Ella' he reached his shaking hand up to a stray curl, that was dancing around her forehead in the crisp spring breeze.

How Gabriella had managed to speak, she couldn't even begin to comprehend, but somehow, she found it within herself to open her mouth and mutter a simple 'Thank you.' And a small smile crept onto her luscious lips, causing Troy's eyes to dip to watch, his own mouth aching to connect with hers. He had waited 62 days to taste her sweet lips. 'I can't believe you've done all this for me, Troy.'

As the soft music, of the music that had brought them together played in the background, Troy took Gabriella, and held her close to his chest. Her arms wound themselves around Troy's muscular chest, and his strong arms enveloped Gabriella in a tight embrace, that held the pair of them as tight as humanly possible. Gabriella rested her head on Troy's chest, and she was sure she could feel the pitter patter of his racing heart, tickle her cheek. Troy rested his head on Gabriella's and inhaled her intoxicating scent. He couldn't quite put his finger on what exactly Gabriella smelt of. It was a musky, creamy coconut sort of smell. But at the same time, it was like nothing he had ever smelt before, and he could feel himself melt from the inside out every time he caught it.

Troy and Gabriella started swaying gently to their music that was playing, slowly dancing a hypnotic waltz that was totally effortless. Neither of them really noticed they were dancing, until Troy broke raised his voice, but only to a whisper, as his face was still nestled in Gabriella's ebony locks, reveling in the moment. 'Ella?'

Troy's soft whisper, hastily awoke Gabriella from her trance. 'Yeah?' Brown bet blue once more, in a gaze, more intense than either of them had ever experienced before.

'I got something I wanna show you. You wanna see?' Gabriella nodded in response, and Troy, leant forward to inhale her intoxicating scent once more, and pressed his lips to her silky forehead, and kissed her heavenly skin.

Regrettably, he removed his body from Gabriella's and walked over to the part of the rooftop that was decorated with fairy lights. The city sky was completely dark now, but the white lights that Troy was using as decorations formed a beautiful contrast to the milky twilight above them. They provided just enough light for Troy to see the strings on his guitar, which he cautiously crouched down to play, after switching off the music that was previously providing the soundtrack for their moonlit waltz. 'I wrote this song for you, Ella. Happy Birthday, beautiful.'

Troy gently started strumming the strings of the guitar, creating a tuneful melody, which was soon harmonized by the sultry tones of Troy's voice.

_Just like a star across my sky,  
Just like an angel off the page,  
You have appeared to my life,  
Feel like I'll never be the same,  
Just like a song in my heart,  
Just like oil on my hands,  
Honour to love you_

_You've got this look I can't describe,  
You make me feel like I'm alive,  
When everything else is au fait,  
Without a doubt you're on my side,  
Heaven has been away too long,  
Can't find the words to write this song,  
Oh...  
Your love,_

_  
_Gabriella felt salty tears prick her eyes, and gradually begin to tumble down her rosy cheeks. Nobody had ever done anything like this for her before. She had had presents before. But this was more than a present. This was better than anything anyone had given her. Troy had given her his time, his trust, and now he was giving her his heart.

_Now I have come to understand,  
The way it is,  
It's not a secret anymore,  
'cause we've been through that before,  
From tonight I know that you're the only one,  
I've been confused and in the dark,  
Now I understand,_

_But I wonder why it is,  
I wont let my guard down,  
For anyone but you  
We do it all the time,  
Blowing out my mind,_

_Just like a star across my sky,  
Just like an angel off the page,  
You have appeared to my life,  
Feel like I'll never be the same,  
Just like a song in my heart,  
Just like oil on my hands_

After the song, there was silence. Troy smiled his crooked smile at Gabriella, as the tears still trickled down Gabriella's angelic face. Not breaking the hush, Gabriella paced over to where Troy was sitting, and crouched down to sit in his lap. Forgetting her usual self, she leant in and pecked Troy on the cheek. The point of impact burned Troy's golden flesh, sending bolts of fire, scorching thrugh Troy's body. The two junior's forheads rested against eachother, as both of them stared longingly into eachother's eyes. 'You missed' Troy managed to muster the confidence to announce.

He laced his arms around Gabriella's torso, pulling her further onto his lap, so their bodies were now touching. They could both feel eachother's warm breath prickling the skin on their individual faces. It felt like a thousand butterflies dancing on their bare flesh. 'What do you mean?' Gabriella breathlessly replied, all the time, Troy was looking at her luciously plump lips.

'You missed' Troy repeated, and slowly began to lean into Gabriella. He had waited 62 days to do this. And now was his chance. As both of the two leaned in, their eye lids fluttered closed, and the air around them became unbearably hot and stuffy, both of them aching to feel the touch of eachother's lips, implanted upon their own. In the tenderest of kisses, Troy and Gabriella's lips met for the first time since they met, 62 days ago. It was a gentle, yet sincere kiss, that spoke a thousand words and more. Their lips moved together, in perfect harmony, like they had practiced this a billion times before. They could feel the blood coarsing through their veins, as they eventually pulled apart from their highly anticipated first kiss.

Their foreheads rested lightly against eachother, as Troy stood up, cradling Gabriella in his strong arms, and strolling over to the blanket that he had layed out before Gabriella had arrived. He gently layed her down on her back, over the blanket. He was soon to lie down next to her, immediately wrapping his strong arms around her delicate frame. After spending the next few moments, gazing into eachother's eyes and shuffling closer and closer to eachother, until it was no longer possible get any nearer. 'You want your present, now?' Troy questioned.

'T, you've already given me more than enough.'

'Nope.' Troy shook his head. 'I have one last thing. Promise' And his lips curled into that dazzling Troy Bolton smile, that not even Gabriella coud refuse.

'Okay. But as long as you promise?' She raised her eyebrow, and cautiously leaned to kiss Troy's jaw, which he of course embraced.

'I promise. But you can't tell anyone this, okay? I don't want anyone getting jealous.' Troy whispered into Gabriella's ear causing involuntary shivers to surge down her spine, into the tips of her toes, consuming her being. All she could do in response was to nod. So Troy nestled his nose in her ebony curls, and whispered into her ear. ' Look up into the sky.' She did just as he instructed her, as he soothingly massaged her fingers with his own. 'You see that beautiul star. The big one, that looks like it could be the eye of the fish?'

'Eye of a fish?' Gabriella asked, genuinely confused.

'Yeah. The other stars around the big star look like a fish. Like a trout sort of thing?' Gabriella giggled.

'Ohh. I see what you mean! I totally know what you mean now. I see the star. Carry on. '

Troy chuckled to himself. 'Well while I was writing your song, I came here evry night. And I sat in this exact spot, looking up at that same star every night, and I don't know why, but until I came and sat here, I couldn't think of a word to write. How do you tell someone they mean the world to you? Where do you start? I'm not the smartest guy around, and I dont know how to use clever words. But when I came here, I sat and I looked at that star. It was so beautiful. It stands out amongst everything else. You look down, and you can see the lights of the city, people going about their every day life, and here I was, alone. But then I look up, and there was your star, Ella. I just looked at it, and I know everything's gonna be okay, because I saw this beautiful light that had come into my life. And I knew, that now I'd found that light, I wasn't gonna lose it. That light made me realize I don't have to worry about things, cause when I look at that light, nothing else in the word matters. I looked at the star and I saw you, Ella.'

'So this is your present. I know it's not much, but here is my present to you. I, Troy Bolton, promise you, Gabriella Montez, that wherever you or I am in this world, you just look up into the sky, and you find our star. I promise that I will be looking at it, too, thinking of you. And I promise that whatever happens, everything will be okay, cause we'll be together, on our star.' A moment of silence hung over Troy and Gabriella, asneither of them wanted to say anything that could ruin the perfect moment. 'Happy Birthday, Ella'

Simultaneously, both pairs of eyes locked onto their star, and just as quickly as they has locked on, both orbs reconnected with eachother, and their lids slowly flickered shut, as Troy and Gabriella gently leaned into eachother's embrace once more, to connect their lips in a perfect kiss, that threw both of them into ecstasy, the tingles creeping through the entirety of their bodies.

10.00pm. Tuesday, March 3rd. It had been exactly 62 days since New Years. Exactly 62 days since Gabriella Montez had been dragged up onto the stage to sing at the Teenager's New Years party. 62 days since Gabriella Montez's life had changed forever. It had been exactly 62 days since Gabriella Montez fell head over heels in love.

* * *

**_Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it - please comment_**


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